San Lucas Island

San Lucas Island (Spanish: "Isla San Lucas") is an island located off the Pacific shore of Costa Rica. It constitutes the 11th district (one of 13) of Puntarenas Canton of the province of Puntarenas.It is one of the National Parks of Costa Rica. [http://www.planetware.com/costa-rica/san-lucas-island-crc-pu-sli.htm]

Location

It is located in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 550 km (340 mi) from the Pacific shore of Costa Rica and is the largest of the islands in the Gigante Bay area with an area of approximately 4.6 km².

Wildlife

The island is surrounded by shallow waters with counter-currents, San Lucas Island has wide range of wildlife from howler monkeys, spiders, snakes and even deer and turkeys.In the sheltered water around the island are also Hammerhead sharks, barracuda,rays, turtles and other large marine species. A crocodile also has a presence around the island waters and has been spotted a few times, most recently by the Raleigh group Alpha 4 who visited in August. [http://www.costarica-nationalparks.com/sanlucasislandwildliferefuge.html]

History

Before 1992, San Lucas was a prison with a reputation for being the roughest Jail in the country. The overgrown remains of the prison cells (some over 100 years old)can be toured by park rangers who live on the Island all year round. [http://www.costarica-nationalparks.com/sanlucasislandwildliferefuge.html]

Volunteer work

The Island benefits from the charity Raleigh International, who work with the rangers if the Island to improve the access to the prison.Over the years the island has been visited from many Raleigh groups who live on the island for weeks at a time. The most recent group (Alpha 4) to visit in August spent 3 weeks there improving the visitor access & clearing the islands beaches. [http://raleighcostarica.blogspot.com/]

See also

* National Parks of Costa Rica

References